The Project Gutenberg eBook of A Dark Month

This ebook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this ebook or online at www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this eBook.

Title: A Dark Month

Author: Algernon Charles Swinburne

Release date: June 7, 2006 [eBook #18524]

Language: English

Credits: Produced by Louise Pryor, Paul Murray and the Online

Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net

*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A DARK MONTH ***

A Dark Month

By

Algernon Charles Swinburne

Taken from The Collected Poetical Works of Algernon Charles Swinburne (Vol. V)

THE COLLECTED POETICAL WORKS

OF ALGERNON CHARLES SWINBURNE

VOL. V

STUDIES IN SONG : A CENTURY OF ROUNDELS : SONNETS ON ENGLISH DRAMATIC POETS : THE HEPTALOGIA : ETC.

SWINBURNE'S POETICAL WORKS

I.

POEMS AND BALLADS (First Series).

II.

SONGS BEFORE SUNRISE, and SONGS OF TWO NATIONS.

III.

POEMS AND BALLADS (Second and Third Series), and SONGS OF THE SPRING TIDES.

IV.

TRISTRAM OF LYONESSE, THE TALE OF BALEN, ATALANTA IN CALYDON, ERECHTHEUS.

V.

STUDIES IN SONG, A CENTURY OF ROUNDELS, SONNETS ON ENGLISH DRAMATIC POETS, THE HEPTALOGIA, ETC.

VI.

A MIDSUMMER HOLIDAY, ASTROPHEL, A CHANNEL PASSAGE AND OTHER POEMS.

LONDON: WILLIAM HEINEMANN

STUDIES IN SONG : A CENTURY OF ROUNDELS : SONNETS ON ENGLISH DRAMATIC POETS : THE HEPTALOGIA : ETC.

By

Algernon Charles Swinburne

1917

LONDON: WILLIAM HEINEMANN

First printed (Chatto), 1904

Reprinted 1904, '09, '10, '12

(Heinemann), 1917

London: William Heinemann, 1917

A DARK MONTH

"La maison sans enfants!"—VICTOR HUGO.

I

A month without sight of the sun

Rising or reigning or setting

Through days without use of the day,

Who calls it the month of May?

The sense of the name is undone

And the sound of it fit for forgetting.

We shall not feel if the sun rise,

We shall not care when it sets:

If a nightingale make night's air

As noontide, why should we care?

Till a light of delight that is done rise,

Extinguishing grey regrets;

Till a child's face lighten again

On the twilight of older faces;

Till a child's voice fall as the dew

On furrows with heat parched through

And all but hopeless of grain,

Refreshing the desolate places—

Fall clear on the ears of us hearkening

And hungering for food of the sound

And thirsting for joy of his voice:

Till the hearts in us hear and rejoice,

And the thoughts of them doubting and darkening

Rejoice with a glad thing found.

When the heart of our gladness is gone,

What comfort is left with us after?

When the light of our eyes is away,

What glory remains upon May,

What blessing of song is thereon

If we drink not the light of his laughter?

No small sweet face with the daytime

To welcome, warmer than noon!

No sweet small voice as a bird's

To bring us the day's first words!

Mid May for us here is not Maytime:

No summer begins with June.

A whole dead month in the dark,

A dawn in the mists that o'ercome her

Stifled and smothered and sad—

Swift speed to it, barren and bad!

And return to us, voice of the lark,

And remain with us, sunlight of summer.

II

Alas, what right has the dawn to glimmer,

What right has the wind to do aught but moan?

All the day should be dimmer

Because we are left alone.

Yestermorn like a sunbeam present

Hither and thither a light step smiled,

And made each place for us pleasant

With the sense or the sight of a child.

But the leaves persist as before, and after

Our parting the dull day still bears flowers;

And songs less bright than his laughter

Deride us from birds in the bowers.

Birds, and blossoms, and sunlight only,

As though such folly sufficed for spring!

As though the house were not lonely

For want of the child its king!

III

Asleep and afar to-night my darling

Lies, and heeds not the night,

If winds be stirring or storms be snarling;

For his sleep is its own sweet light.

I sit where he sat beside me quaffing

The wine of story and song

Poured forth of immortal cups, and laughing

When mirth in the draught grew strong.

I broke the gold of the words, to melt it

For hands but seven years old,

And they caught the tale as a bird, and felt it

More bright than visible gold.

And he drank down deep, with his eyes broad beaming,

Here in this room where I am,

The golden vintage of Shakespeare, gleaming

In the silver vessels of Lamb.

Here by my hearth where he was I listen

For the shade of the sound of a word,

Athirst for the birdlike eyes to glisten,

For the tongue to chirp like a bird.

At the blast of battle, how broad they brightened,

Like fire in the spheres of stars,

And clung to the pictured page, and lightened

As keen as the heart of Mars!

At the touch of laughter, how swift it twittered

The shrillest music on earth;

How the lithe limbs laughed and the whole child glittered

With radiant riot of mirth!

Our Shakespeare now, as a man dumb-stricken,

Stands silent there on the shelf:

And my thoughts, that had song in the heart of them, sicken,

And relish not Shakespeare's self.

And my mood grows moodier than Hamlet's even,

And man delights not me,

But only the face that morn and even

My heart leapt only to see.

That my heart made merry within me seeing,

And sang as his laugh kept time:

But song finds now no pleasure in being,

And love no reason in rhyme.

IV

Mild May-blossom and proud sweet bay-flower,

What, for shame, would you have with us here?

It is not the month of the May-flower

This, but the fall of the year.

Flowers open only their lips in derision,

Leaves are as fingers that point in scorn

The shows we see are a vision;

Spring is not verily born.

Yet boughs turn supple and buds grow sappy,

As though the sun were indeed the sun:

And all our woods are happy

With all their birds save one.

But spring is over, but summer is over,

But autumn is over, and winter stands

With his feet sunk deep in the clover

And cowslips cold in his hands.

His hoar grim head has a hawthorn bonnet,

His gnarled gaunt hand has a gay green staff

With new-blown rose-blossom on it:

But his laugh is a dead man's laugh.

The laugh of spring that the heart seeks after,

The hand that the whole world yearns to kiss,

It rings not here in his laughter,

The sign of it is not this.

There is not strength in it left to splinter

Tall oaks, nor frost in his breath to sting:

Yet it is but a breath as of winter,

And it is not the hand of spring.

V

Thirty-one pale maidens, clad

All in mourning dresses,

Pass, with lips and eyes more sad

That it seems they should be glad,

Heads discrowned of crowns they had,

Grey for golden tresses.

Grey their girdles too for green,

And their veils dishevelled:

None would say, to see their mien,

That the least of these had been

Born no baser than a queen,

Reared where flower-fays revelled.

Dreams that strive to seem awake,

Ghosts that walk by daytime,

Weary winds the way they take,

Since, for one child's absent sake,

May knows well, whate'er things make

Sport, it is not Maytime.

VI

A hand at the door taps light

As the hand of my heart's delight:

It is but a full-grown hand,

Yet the stroke of it seems to start

Hope like a bird in my heart,

Too feeble to soar or to stand.

To start light hope from her cover

Is to raise but a kite for a plover

If her wings be not fledged to soar.

Desire, but in dreams, cannot ope

The door that was shut upon hope

When love went out at the door.

Well were it if vision could keep

The lids of desire as in sleep

Fast locked, and over his eyes

A dream with the dark soft key

In her hand might hover, and be

Their keeper till morning rise;

The morning that brings after many

Days fled with no light upon any

The small face back which is gone;

When the loved little hands once more

Shall struggle and strain at the door

They beat their summons upon.

VII

If a soul for but seven days were cast out of heaven and its mirth,

They would seem to her fears like as seventy years upon earth.

Even and morrow should seem to her sorrow as long

As the passage of numberless ages in slumberless song.

Dawn, roused by the lark, would be surely as dark in her sight

As her measureless measure of shadowless pleasure was bright.

Noon, gilt but with glory of gold, would be hoary and grey

In her eyes that had gazed on the depths, unamazed with the day.

Night hardly would seem to make darker her dream never done,

When it could but withhold what a man may behold of the sun.

For dreams would perplex, were the days that should vex her but seven,

The sight of her vision, made dark with division from heaven.

Till the light on my lonely way lighten that only now gleams,

I too am divided from heaven and derided of dreams.

VIII

A twilight fire-fly may suggest

How flames the fire that feeds the sun:

"A crooked figure may attest

In little space a million."

But this faint-figured verse, that dresses

With flowers the bones of one bare month,

Of all it would say scarce expresses

In crooked ways a millionth.

A fire-fly tenders to the father

Of fires a tribute something worth:

My verse, a shard-borne beetle rather,

Drones over scarce-illumined earth.

Some inches round me though it brighten

With light of music-making thought,

The dark indeed it may not lighten,

The silence moves not, hearing nought.

Only my heart is eased with hearing,

Only mine eyes are soothed with seeing,

A face brought nigh, a footfall nearing,

Till hopes take form and dreams have being.

IX

As a poor man hungering stands with insatiate eyes and hands

Void of bread

Right in sight of men that feast while his famine with no least

Crumb is fed,

Here across the garden-wall can I hear strange children call,

Watch them play,

From the windowed seat above, whence the goodlier child I love

Is away.

Here the sights we saw together moved his fancy like a feather

To and fro,

Now to wonder, and thereafter to the sunny storm of laughter

Loud and low—

Sights engraven on storied pages where man's tale of seven swift ages

All was told—

Seen of eyes yet bright from heaven—for the lips that laughed were seven

Sweet years old.

X

Why should May remember

March, if March forget

The days that began with December

The nights that a frost could fret?

All their griefs are done with

Now the bright months bless

Fit souls to rejoice in the sun with,

Fit heads for the wind's caress;

Souls of children quickening

With the whole world's mirth,

Heads closelier than field-flowers thickening

That crowd and illuminate earth,

Now that May's call musters

Files of baby bands

To marshal in joyfuller clusters

Than the flowers that encumber their hands.

Yet morose November

Found them no less gay,

With nought to forget or remember

Less bright than a branch of may.

All the seasons moving

Move their minds alike

Applauding, acclaiming, approving

All hours of the year that strike.

So my heart may fret not,

Wondering if my friend

Remember me not or forget not

Or ever the month find end.

Not that love sows lighter

Seed in children sown,

But that life being lit in them brighter

Moves fleeter than even our own.

May nor yet September

Binds their hearts, that yet

Remember, forget, and remember,

Forget, and recall, and forget.

XI

As light on a lake's face moving

Between a cloud and a cloud

Till night reclaim it, reproving

The heart that exults too loud,

The heart that watching rejoices

When soft it swims into sight

Applauded of all the voices

And stars of the windy night,

So brief and unsure, but sweeter

Than ever a moondawn smiled,

Moves, measured of no tune's metre,

The song in the soul of a child;

The song that the sweet soul singing

Half listens, and hardly hears,

Though sweeter than joy-bells ringing

And brighter than joy's own tears;

The song that remembrance of pleasure

Begins, and forgetfulness ends

With a soft swift change in the measure

That rings in remembrance of friends

As the moon on the lake's face flashes,

So haply may gleam at whiles

A dream through the dear deep lashes

Whereunder a child's eye smiles,

And the least of us all that love him

May take for a moment part

With angels around and above him,

And I find place in his heart.

XII

Child, were you kinless and lonely—

Dear, were you kin to me—

My love were compassionate only

Or such as it needs would be.

But eyes of father and mother

Like sunlight shed on you shine:

What need you have heed of another

Such new strange love as is mine?

It is not meet if unruly

Hands take of the children's bread

And cast it to dogs; but truly

The dogs after all would be fed.

On crumbs from the children's table

That crumble, dropped from above,

My heart feeds, fed with unstable

Loose waifs of a child's light love.

Though love in your heart were brittle

As glass that breaks with a touch,

You haply would lend him a little

Who surely would give you much.

XIII

Here is a rough

Rude sketch of my friend,

Faint-coloured enough

And unworthily penned.

Fearlessly fair

And triumphant he stands,

And holds unaware

Friends' hearts in his hands;

Stalwart and straight

As an oak that should bring

Forth gallant and great

Fresh roses in spring.

On the paths of his pleasure

All graces that wait

What metre shall measure

What rhyme shall relate

Each action, each motion,

Each feature, each limb,

Demands a devotion

In honour of him:

Head that the hand

Of a god might have blest,

Laid lustrous and bland

On the curve of its crest:

Mouth sweeter than cherries,

Keen eyes as of Mars,

Browner than berries

And brighter than stars.

Nor colour nor wordy

Weak song can declare

The stature how sturdy,

How stalwart his air.

As a king in his bright

Presence-chamber may be,

So seems he in height—

Twice higher than your knee.

As a warrior sedate

With reserve of his power,

So seems he in state—

As tall as a flower:

As a rose overtowering

The ranks of the rest

That beneath it lie cowering,

Less bright than their best.

And his hands are as sunny

As ruddy ripe corn

Or the browner-hued honey

From heather-bells borne.

When summer sits proudest,

Fulfilled with its mirth,

And rapture is loudest

In air and on earth,

The suns of all hours

That have ripened the roots

Bring forth not such flowers

And beget not such fruits.

And well though I know it,

As fain would I write,

Child, never a poet

Could praise you aright.

I bless you? the blessing

Were less than a jest

Too poor for expressing;

I come to be blest,

With humble and dutiful

Heart, from above:

Bless me, O my beautiful

Innocent love!

This rhyme in your praise

With a smile was begun;

But the goal of his ways

Is uncovered to none,

Nor pervious till after

The limit impend;

It is not in laughter

These rhymes of you end.

XIV

Spring, and fall, and summer, and winter,

Which may Earth love least of them all,

Whose arms embrace as their signs imprint her,

Summer, or winter, or spring, or fall?

The clear-eyed spring with the wood-birds mating,

The rose-red summer with eyes aglow,

The yellow fall with serene eyes waiting,

The wild-eyed winter with hair all snow?

Spring's eyes are soft, but if frosts benumb her

As winter's own will her shrewd breath sting:

Storms may rend the raiment of summer,

And fall grow bitter as harsh-lipped spring.

One sign for summer and winter guides me,

One for spring, and the like for fall:

Whichever from sight of my friend divides me,

That is the worst ill season of all.

XV

Worse than winter is spring

If I come not to sight of my king:

But then what a spring will it be

When my king takes homage of me!

I send his grace from afar

Homage, as though to a star;

As a shepherd whose flock takes flight

May worship a star by night.

As a flock that a wolf is upon

My songs take flight and are gone:

No heart is in any to sing

Aught but the praise of my king.

Fain would I once and again

Sing deeds and passions of men:

But ever a child's head gleams

Between my work and my dreams.

Between my hand and my eyes

The lines of a small face rise,

And the lines I trace and retrace

Are none but those of the face.

XVI

Till the tale of all this flock of days alike

All be done,

Weary days of waiting till the month's hand strike

Thirty-one,

Till the clock's hand of the month break off, and end

With the clock,

Till the last and whitest sheep at last be penned

Of the flock,

I their shepherd keep the count of night and day

With my song,

Though my song be, like this month which once was May,

All too long.

XVII

The incarnate sun, a tall strong youth,

On old Greek eyes in sculpture smiled:

But trulier had it given the truth

To shape him like a child.

No face full-grown of all our dearest

So lightens all our darkness, none

Most loved of all our hearts hold nearest

To far outshines the sun,

As when with sly shy smiles that feign

Doubt if the hour be clear, the time

Fit to break off my work again

Or sport of prose or rhyme,

My friend peers in on me with merry

Wise face, and though the sky stay dim

The very light of day, the very

Sun's self comes in with him.

XVIII

Out of sight,

Out of mind!

Could the light

Prove unkind?

Can the sun

Quite forget

What was done

Ere he set?

Does the moon

When she wanes

Leave no tune

That remains

In the void

Shell of night

Overcloyed

With her light?

Must the shore

At low tide

Feel no more

Hope or pride,

No intense

Joy to be,

In the sense

Of the sea—

In the pulses

Of her shocks

It repulses,

When its rocks

Thrill and ring

As with glee?

Has my king

Cast off me,

Whom no bird

Flying south

Brings one word

From his mouth?

Not the ghost

Of a word.

Riding post

Have I heard,

Since the day

When my king

Took away

With him spring,

And the cup

Of each flower

Shrivelled up

That same hour,

With no light

Left behind.

Out of sight,

Out of mind!

XIX

Because I adore you

And fall

On the knees of my spirit before you—

After all,

You need not insult,

My king,

With neglect, though your spirit exult

In the spring,

Even me, though not worth,

God knows,

One word of you sent me in mirth,

Or one rose

Out of all in your garden

That grow

Where the frost and the wind never harden

Flakes of snow,

Nor ever is rain

At all,

But the roses rejoice to remain

Fair and tall—

The roses of love,

More sweet

Than blossoms that rain from above

Round our feet,

When under high bowers

We pass,

Where the west wind freckles with flowers

All the grass.

But a child's thoughts bear

More bright

Sweet visions by day, and more fair

Dreams by night,

Than summer's whole treasure

Can be:

What am I that his thought should take pleasure,

Then, in me?

I am only my love's

True lover,

With a nestful of songs, like doves

Under cover,

That I bring in my cap

Fresh caught,

To be laid on my small king's lap—

Worth just nought.

Yet it haply may hap

That he,

When the mirth in his veins is as sap

In a tree,

Will remember me too

Some day

Ere the transit be thoroughly through

Of this May—

Or perchance, if such grace

May be,

Some night when I dream of his face.

Dream of me.

Or if this be too high

A hope

For me to prefigure in my

Horoscope,

He may dream of the place

Where we

Basked once in the light of his face,

Who now see

Nought brighter, not one

Thing bright,

Than the stars and the moon and the sun,

Day nor night.

XX

Day by darkling day,

Overpassing, bears away

Somewhat of the burden of this weary May.

Night by numbered night,

Waning, brings more near in sight

Hope that grows to vision of my heart's delight.

Nearer seems to burn

In the dawn's rekindling urn

Flame of fragrant incense, hailing his return.

Louder seems each bird

In the brightening branches heard

Still to speak some ever more delightful word.

All the mists that swim

Round the dawns that grow less dim

Still wax brighter and more bright with hope of him.

All the suns that rise

Bring that day more near our eyes

When the sight of him shall clear our clouded skies.

All the winds that roam

Fruitful fields or fruitless foam

Blow the bright hour near that brings his bright face home.

XXI

I hear of two far hence

In a garden met,

And the fragrance blown from thence

Fades not yet.

The one is seven years old,

And my friend is he:

But the years of the other have told

Eighty-three.

To hear these twain converse

Or to see them greet

Were sweeter than softest verse

May be sweet.

The hoar old gardener there

With an eye more mild

Perchance than his mild white hair

Meets the child.

I had rather hear the words

That the twain exchange

Than the songs of all the birds

There that range,

Call, chirp, and twitter there

Through the garden-beds

Where the sun alike sees fair

Those two heads,

And which may holier be

Held in heaven of those

Or more worth heart's thanks to see

No man knows.

XXII

Of such is the kingdom of heaven,

No glory that ever was shed

From the crowning star of the seven

That crown the north world's head,

No word that ever was spoken

Of human or godlike tongue,

Gave ever such godlike token

Since human harps were strung.

No sign that ever was given

To faithful or faithless eyes

Showed ever beyond clouds riven

So clear a Paradise.

Earth's creeds may be seventy times seven

And blood have defiled each creed:

If of such be the kingdom of heaven,

It must be heaven indeed.

XXIII

The wind on the downs is bright

As though from the sea:

And morning and night

Take comfort again with me.

He is nearer to-day,

Each night to each morning saith,

Whose return shall revive dead May

With the balm of his breath.

The sunset says to the moon,

He is nearer to-night

Whose coming in June

Is looked for more than the light.

Bird answers to bird,

Hour passes the sign on to hour,

And for joy of the bright news heard

Flower murmurs to flower.

The ways that were glad of his feet

In the woods that he knew

Grow softer to meet

The sense of his footfall anew.

He is near now as day,

Says hope to the new-born light:

He is near now as June is to May,

Says love to the night.

XXIV

Good things I keep to console me

For lack of the best of all,

A child to command and control me,

Bid come and remain at his call.

Sun, wind, and woodland and highland,

Give all that ever they gave:

But my world is a cultureless island,

My spirit a masterless slave.

And friends are about me, and better

At summons of no man stand:

But I pine for the touch of a fetter,

The curb of a strong king's hand.

Each hour of the day in her season

Is mine to be served as I will:

And for no more exquisite reason

Are all served idly and ill.

By slavery my sense is corrupted,

My soul not fit to be free:

I would fain be controlled, interrupted,

Compelled as a thrall may be.

For fault of spur and of bridle

I tire of my stall to death:

My sail flaps joyless and idle

For want of a small child's breath.

XXV

Whiter and whiter

The dark lines grow,

And broader opens and brighter

The sense of the text below.

Nightfall and morrow

Bring nigher the boy

Whom wanting we want not sorrow,

Whom having we want no joy.

Clearer and clearer

The sweet sense grows

Of the word which hath summer for hearer,

The word on the lips of the rose.

Duskily dwindles

Each deathlike day,

Till June rearising rekindles

The depth of the darkness of May.

XXVI

"In his bright radiance and collateral light

Must I be comforted, not in his sphere."

Stars in heaven are many,

Suns in heaven but one:

Nor for man may any

Star supplant the sun.

Many a child as joyous

As our far-off king

Meets as though to annoy us

In the paths of spring.

Sure as spring gives warning,

All things dance in tune:

Sun on Easter morning,

Cloud and windy moon,

Stars between the tossing

Boughs of tuneful trees,

Sails of ships recrossing

Leagues of dancing seas;

Best, in all this playtime,

Best of all in tune,

Girls more glad than Maytime,

Boys more bright than June;

Mixed with all those dances,

Far through field and street

Sing their silent glances,

Ring their radiant feet.

Flowers wherewith May crowned us

Fall ere June be crowned:

Children blossom round us

All the whole year round.

Is the garland worthless

For one rose the less,

And the feast made mirthless?

Love, at least, says yes.

Strange it were, with many

Stars enkindling air,

Should but one find any

Welcome: strange it were,

Had one star alone won

Praise for light from far:

Nay, love needs his own one

Bright particular star.

Hope and recollection

Only lead him right

In its bright reflection

And collateral light.

Find as yet we may not

Comfort in its sphere:

Yet these days will weigh not

When it warms us here;

When full-orbed it rises,

Now divined afar:

None in all the skies is

Half so good a star;

None that seers importune

Till a sign be won:

Star of our good fortune,

Rise and reign, our sun!

XXVII

I pass by the small room now forlorn

Where once each night as I passed I knew

A child's bright sleep from even to morn

Made sweet the whole night through.

As a soundless shell, as a songless nest,

Seems now the room that was radiant then

And fragrant with his happier rest

Than that of slumbering men.

The day therein is less than the day,

The night is indeed night now therein:

Heavier the dark seems there to weigh,

And slower the dawns begin.

As a nest fulfilled with birds, as a shell

Fulfilled with breath of a god's own hymn,

Again shall be this bare blank cell,

Made sweet again with him.

XXVIII

Spring darkens before us,

A flame going down,

With chant from the chorus

Of days without crown—

Cloud, rain, and sonorous

Soft wind on the down.

She is wearier not of us

Than we of the dream

That spring was to love us

And joy was to gleam

Through the shadows above us

That shift as they stream.

Half dark and half hoary,

Float far on the loud

Mild wind, as a glory

Half pale and half proud

From the twilight of story,

Her tresses of cloud;

Like phantoms that glimmer

Of glories of old

With ever yet dimmer

Pale circlets of gold

As darkness grows grimmer

And memory more cold.

Like hope growing clearer

With wane of the moon,

Shines toward us the nearer

Gold frontlet of June,

And a face with it dearer

Than midsummer noon.

XXIX

You send me your love in a letter,

I send you my love in a song:

Ah child, your gift is the better,

Mine does you but wrong.

No fame, were the best less brittle,

No praise, were it wide as earth,

Is worth so much as a little

Child's love may be worth.

We see the children above us

As they might angels above:

Come back to us, child, if you love us,

And bring us your love.

XXX

No time for books or for letters:

What time should there be?

No room for tasks and their fetters:

Full room to be free.

The wind and the sun and the Maytime

Had never a guest

More worthy the most that his playtime

Could give of its best.

If rain should come on, peradventure,

(But sunshine forbid!)

Vain hope in us haply might venture

To dream as it did.

But never may come, of all comers

Least welcome, the rain,

To mix with his servant the summer's

Rose-garlanded train!

He would write, but his hours are as busy

As bees in the sun,

And the jubilant whirl of their dizzy

Dance never is done.

The message is more than a letter,

Let love understand,

And the thought of his joys even better

Than sight of his hand.

XXXI

Wind, high-souled, full-hearted

South-west wind of the spring!

Ere April and earth had parted,

Skies, bright with thy forward wing,

Grew dark in an hour with the shadow behind it, that bade not a bird dare sing.

Wind whose feet are sunny,

Wind whose wings are cloud,

With lips more sweet than honey

Still, speak they low or loud,

Rejoice now again in the strength of thine heart: let the depth of thy soul wax proud.

We hear thee singing or sighing,

Just not given to sight,

All but visibly flying

Between the clouds and the light,

And the light in our hearts is enkindled, the shadow therein of the clouds put to flight.

From the gift of thine hands we gather

The core of the flowers therein,

Keen glad heart of heather,

Hot sweet heart of whin,

Twin breaths in thy godlike breath close blended of wild spring's wildest of kin.

All but visibly beating

We feel thy wings in the far

Clear waste, and the plumes of them fleeting,

Soft as swan's plumes are,

And strong as a wild swan's pinions, and swift as the flash of the flight of a star.

As the flight of a planet enkindled

Seems thy far soft flight

Now May's reign has dwindled

And the crescent of June takes light

And the presence of summer is here, and the hope of a welcomer presence in sight.

Wind, sweet-souled, great-hearted

Southwest wind on the wold!

From us is a glory departed

That now shall return as of old,

Borne back on thy wings as an eagle's expanding, and crowned with the sundawn's gold.

There is not a flower but rejoices,

There is not a leaf but has heard:

All the fields find voices,

All the woods are stirred:

There is not a nest but is brighter because of the coming of one bright bird.

Out of dawn and morning,

Noon and afternoon,

The sun to the world gives warning

Of news that brightens the moon;

And the stars all night exult with us, hearing of joy that shall come with June.

Transcriber's note

The line in number VII

To far outshines the sun,

appears thus in the original. It may be a misprint.

*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A DARK MONTH ***

Updated editions will replace the previous one—the old editions will be renamed.

Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to copying and distributing Project Gutenberg™ electronic works to protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG™ concept and trademark. Project Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you charge for an eBook, except by following the terms of the trademark license, including paying royalties for use of the Project Gutenberg trademark. If you do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the trademark license is very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and research. Project Gutenberg eBooks may be modified and printed and given away—you may do practically ANYTHING in the United States with eBooks not protected by U.S. copyright law. Redistribution is subject to the trademark license, especially commercial redistribution.

START: FULL LICENSE

THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE

PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK

To protect the Project Gutenberg™ mission of promoting the free distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work (or any other work associated in any way with the phrase “Project Gutenberg”), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project Gutenberg™ License available with this file or online at www.gutenberg.org/license.

Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg™ electronic works

1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg™ electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property (trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy all copies of Project Gutenberg™ electronic works in your possession. If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project Gutenberg™ electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8.

1.B. “Project Gutenberg” is a registered trademark. It may only be used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg™ electronic works even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project Gutenberg™ electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg™ electronic works. See paragraph 1.E below.

1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation (“the Foundation” or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project Gutenberg™ electronic works. Nearly all the individual works in the collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an individual work is unprotected by copyright law in the United States and you are located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the Project Gutenberg™ mission of promoting free access to electronic works by freely sharing Project Gutenberg™ works in compliance with the terms of this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg™ name associated with the work. You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project Gutenberg™ License when you share it without charge with others.

1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are in a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, check the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project Gutenberg™ work. The Foundation makes no representations concerning the copyright status of any work in any country other than the United States.

1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg:

1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate access to, the full Project Gutenberg™ License must appear prominently whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg™ work (any work on which the phrase “Project Gutenberg” appears, or with which the phrase “Project Gutenberg” is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed, copied or distributed:

This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this eBook.

1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg™ electronic work is derived from texts not protected by U.S. copyright law (does not contain a notice indicating that it is posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees or charges. If you are redistributing or providing access to a work with the phrase “Project Gutenberg” associated with or appearing on the work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the Project Gutenberg™ trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or 1.E.9.

1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg™ electronic work is posted with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms will be linked to the Project Gutenberg™ License for all works posted with the permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work.

1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg™ License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg™.

1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project Gutenberg™ License.

1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access to or distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg™ work in a format other than “Plain Vanilla ASCII” or other format used in the official version posted on the official Project Gutenberg™ website (www.gutenberg.org), you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon request, of the work in its original “Plain Vanilla ASCII” or other form. Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg™ License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1.

1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg™ works unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9.

1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing access to or distributing Project Gutenberg™ electronic works provided that:

- • You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from the use of Project Gutenberg™ works calculated using the method you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg™ trademark, but he has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the address specified in Section 4, “Information about donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation.”

- • You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg™ License. You must require such a user to return or destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of Project Gutenberg™ works.

- • You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days of receipt of the work.

- • You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free distribution of Project Gutenberg™ works.

1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg™ electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the manager of the Project Gutenberg™ trademark. Contact the Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below.

1.F.

1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread works not protected by U.S. copyright law in creating the Project Gutenberg™ collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg™ electronic works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain “Defects,” such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by your equipment.

1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the “Right of Replacement or Refund” described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project Gutenberg™ trademark, and any other party distributing a Project Gutenberg™ electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH 1.F.3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.

1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a refund. If you received the work electronically, the person or entity providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If the second copy is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further opportunities to fix the problem.

1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you ‘AS-IS’, WITH NO OTHER WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE.

1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages. If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by the applicable state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions.

1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone providing copies of Project Gutenberg™ electronic works in accordance with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production, promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg™ electronic works, harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees, that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg™ work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any Project Gutenberg™ work, and (c) any Defect you cause.

Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg™

Project Gutenberg™ is synonymous with the free distribution of electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It exists because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from people in all walks of life.

Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the assistance they need are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg™’s goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg™ collection will remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure and permanent future for Project Gutenberg™ and future generations. To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4 and the Foundation information page at www.gutenberg.org.

Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation

The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non-profit 501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal Revenue Service. The Foundation’s EIN or federal tax identification number is 64-6221541. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state’s laws.

The Foundation’s business office is located at 809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887. Email contact links and up to date contact information can be found at the Foundation’s website and official page at www.gutenberg.org/contact

Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation

Project Gutenberg™ depends upon and cannot survive without widespread public support and donations to carry out its mission of increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be freely distributed in machine-readable form accessible by the widest array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations ($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt status with the IRS.

The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any particular state visit www.gutenberg.org/donate.

While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who approach us with offers to donate.

International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff.

Please check the Project Gutenberg web pages for current donation methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other ways including checks, online payments and credit card donations. To donate, please visit: www.gutenberg.org/donate.

Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg™ electronic works

Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project Gutenberg™ concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared with anyone. For forty years, he produced and distributed Project Gutenberg™ eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support.

Project Gutenberg™ eBooks are often created from several printed editions, all of which are confirmed as not protected by copyright in the U.S. unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not necessarily keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition.

Most people start at our website which has the main PG search facility: www.gutenberg.org.

This website includes information about Project Gutenberg™, including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks.

Table of Contents

A Dark Month

SWINBURNE'S POETICAL WORKS

STUDIES IN SONG : A CENTURY OF ROUNDELS : SONNETS ON ENGLISH DRAMATIC POETS : THE HEPTALOGIA : ETC.

A DARK MONTH

I

II

III

IV

V

VI

VII

VIII

IX

X

XI

XII

XIII

XIV

XV

XVI

XVII

XVIII

XIX

XX

XXI

XXII

XXIII

XXIV

XXV

XXVI

XXVII

XXVIII

XXIX

XXX

XXXI

Transcriber's note

THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE